Mani Ratnam on bringing together the star cast of Ponniyin Selvan 1: ‘I didn’t look at it that way, they were very keen…’

“We have tried to be just as real as possible. The novel was written 70 years back, and it has been the bestselling book ever since, so it’s a huge responsibility and we’ve tried to stay genuine to it,” Mani Ratnam told NDTV. He also said that despite being a period movie, Ponniyin Selvan is a modern film due to issues it deals with: “I think the issues that have been dealt with in the book are very much contemporary, the need for power and the struggle to achieve it. A lot of it is completely relatable.”

Ponniyin Selvan 1 will see a bevy of stars come together, including the likes of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi and Vikram among others. Speaking about how he got them together for the project, Ratnam said, “I didn’t look at it that way, they were all very keen to be a part of it, and they were wonderful. Practically it’s a whole industry coming together so that’s wonderful.”

Towards the end, Mani Ratnam was also asked to give his take on the increase in production of pan-India movies and how it has changed Indian cinema.

“All you do is make a film as well as you can, and if someone outside your own region can relate to it, it will travel. Because with the pandemic, people have started watching other language films too and that has opened a lot of doors,” concluded the director.